Slough Town (1) 2 Davies 25 Alexander 90+6
Tonbridge Angels (1) 5 Fielding 33 Akanbi 51 Lyons-Foster 60 Soares-Junior 70 Wood 89
Attendance: 637
Admission: £10
Programme: £3
Mileage: 160/1,341
Weather: 26degC., hot
It was certainly a week of lows and highs in the build-up to what would normally be viewed as a nondescript NLS fixture at Arbor Park, home to Slough Town. Monday’s indifferent performance against Welling had left its mark on supporters, and seemingly on Jay Saunders’ patience as Stefan Payne departed to make way for Jordan Greenidge, with Johl Powell, who had seen very little game time, also departing. This added to the departure of Tommie Fagg.
Arbor Park didn’t swelter in the 40degC heat of last year but was, nonetheless, hot as the mercury rose to 26 degrees. Greenidge, not unsurprisingly given his lack of game time, was initially named on the bench but when Lewis Gard pulled up in the warm-up he was pressed into action from the outset.
Slough entered the match as the basement club and in the opening stages looked like a team short on confidence as the Angels created early chances with crosses of quality coming in from Joe Turner, something that has been missing most of the season so far.
But, after 25 minutes, the home side took the lead in controversial circumstances. A challenge in the Tonbridge penalty area left Scott Wagstaff on the ground; the referee was waving his arm in the direction of the player as a whistle was heard. My eyesight might be failing me, my hearing is not. The whistle was heard in the main stand, heard behind the goal that was being attacked by the home side. As the Tonbridge goalkeeper, Jonny Henly, ventured forward to his prostrate captain, Scott Davies, the Slough player-manager, chipped, quite beautifully it has to be said, from around 30 yards into the unguarded net. Where did the whistle come from, we will never know.
If nothing else it served to fire up the visitors even more and they were level on 33 minutes when a Turner corner was headed home at the far post by Jamie Fielding despite a desperate attempt at a goal line clearance.
A sense of injustice prevailed at the break but thankfully it was to count for little as the Angels cut through the home defence almost at will in the second period. After six minutes, a cross from Turner was dragged back from the byeline towards Greenidge but the ball broke to Ibby Akanbi who drove it home from around the penalty spot.
On the hour, a third goal from the Angels broke the home side’s resistance and heads visibly dropped. Another Turner corner was spilt by the Slough keeper, Luthra, to the feet of Kodi Lyons-Foster who thumped it home from six yards.
On 68 minutes, Greenidge’s game was run and the fresh legs of Ruben Soares-Junior was about to run ragged an already forlorn defence. Within a minute Jordan Higgs sent him clear only for the winger to shoot into the side netting before the play was repeated for this time Soares-Junior to round the keeper and slot home. Just two minutes later, the same play but this time with Hinds as the provider saw Soares-Junior felled by the keeper for the award of a penalty. Soares-Junior took the spot kick himself but his shot was too close to Luthra who saved with a trailing leg.
Soares-Junior turned provider in the 89th minute when his low cross was converted by substitute Nathan Wood. A final kick consolation for Slough was an irritation that wasn’t going to blight a satisfying afternoon.
Big G returns, as did Ben Swift allowing Hinds and Jernade Meade to press further forward; the return to top form of Turner and the fruitful introduction of Soares-Junior, all real reasons for the production of a superb performance, but us blog writers would mostly enjoy the theory that the motivation came from a blooming podcast!
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